The Clifton clarion., 1887-03-09
BECOMING POPULAR.
THE GiEE oF LAWN TENNIS.
1t Is To-day the Leading Society Game-Intcrcsting Facts Con- cernin. Eis origin.

That which especially comments the game is the fact that it affords ladies opportunities for taking much needed exercise without depriving them of the inestimable boon of Hooking pretty" It must not be overlooked tl.at dress is regarded as essential to the fullest enjoyment of the game, and it is happy thought that the law of tennis dress has sent to Coventry all such botherations as stiff collars, linen, silks, and corsets. Flannel reigns in the tennis court. and nobody can say that that is not a very gem of an idea. A properly attired tennis player never takes cold. The ladies in their short, loose skirts of flannel, their canvas shoes with corrugated rubber so!es and their pretty tennis hats are quite too lovely to be neglected. while every ybody must admit that the gentlemen are in the highest degree comfortable in their white flannel shirts and match ing trousers or (be:ter stilD knicker- lockers. 4 correspondent who is an enthusiast in tennis has picked up the following interesting facts con cerning the game:-
 The idea of adapting court tennis to the open air and as it is now played, first came to Mai. Walker Wingtield, gentleman oi Shropshire, England, about 1874, and it is to him Chat we arc indebted for the present form of the game. Badminton Was at that time tine fashionable outdoor game. and consisted of hitting a shu;tlecock over high net from four small courts marked out on a piece of turf into another; but the game was very SOW and could not compete in popular favor with croquet until the happy thought struck Major Wing field, of combining Badminton with court tennis and giving us the present beautiful game. Lawn tennis has q charm that no other game requiring the same action and spirited play possesses, namely that it is essen tial!y one in which ladies and gentle men can meet on equal terms and derive an equal amount of pleasure from. No game for this reason has evcr attained such an amount of fash ionab.e pa ronage. It is played at every seaside resort, in the mountain, and in every town and village in the country. No gentieman's country place is considered complete without & court.
 The single court IS seventy-eight feet ions and dtwenty-seven feet broad; the net is stretched across the middle and should be about thir;y-three feet long. so as 10 project on each side of the boundary lines. The double court is 7oxS3, and the net should be thirty feet long, stretched very tight, three feet six inches at the posts and three feet in the center. The service l.ne should be eighteen feet from .he net; hut when ladies are playing 1t is often as well to bring it little closer to the net, by which means q very difficult service of the ball is pro- cured. This will Ee found a very useful point IT all private courts, as a very expert cannot, as is otherwise frequently done, serve out the whole game wi hout h;s opponents getting in d single return. The tennis ball should be two and one half inches in diameter ani we.gA not more than two ounces. The racket most in use has a broad surface and varies in weight from twelve to fifteen ounces, the light being most in favor with experts
 Nowhere has the game of lawn tennis taken firmer hold than in America. The public authorities of the parks and open places have given great impetus to the game in large cities by the permission they have given to play it in such places. No fewer than lS5 courts are marked out in Prospect Park. Brooklyn, and mott of them are taken up every afternoon, as many ladies as men playing. Central Park in New York is also largely devoted 10 the game, and some oi the bes! playia. and prettiest dresses can be seen there every day. On August l3, I9, and 20 all the ex- pert players who aspire to champion ship honors met at Newport, R. I. The Eng ish are just now deciding who is tine best player across the water at the All England Lawn Tennis Grounds, al Wimbledon. MT. Eenshaw, last years champion, has been chal!eneei by twenty-five aspi7- nnts to the honor, who will fight it out among themselves. and the win ner will then play the final with him. This system of competition undoubt- edly gives a great advantage to the holder of the championship. Tour namenis are tine order of the day everywhere. ltmay be said of tennis as of few other things, that it has many friends and no enemies.-IDe troit Free Press.
 l-tiIiyiHr the S,actuS.